OCEANIA · COUNTRY REFERENCE
Palau
Written and compiled by American Business Capital Group Inc.
Selected country or entityMap: Natural Earth ↗
ANNUAL ECONOMIC SNAPSHOT
Population & economic scale
The most recent non-empty observations returned by the World Bank when this snapshot was collected. Read the year on each card: these are annual statistics, not live measurements.
World Bank reporting entity: Palau · 3 of 3 indicators available.
Population
17,663
people
observation
Definition, value & source
Total population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship. The values shown are midyear estimates.
Received value: 17663 people. The main card rounds for readability.
- Collected
- Oct 7, 2026
- Dataset update reported by API
- Jul 13, 2026; separate from the observation year
World Bank indicator ↗ · API record ↗
World Bank, World Development Indicators. CC BY 4.0. Underlying sources: World Population Prospects, United Nations (UN), uri: https://population.un.org/wpp/, publisher: UN Population Division; Statistical databases and publications from national statistical offices, National Statistical Offices (NSOs), uri: https://unstats.un.org/home/nso_sites/, publisher: National Statistical Offices; Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, Eurostat (ESTAT), uri: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/data/database?node_code=earn_ses_monthly, publisher: Eurostat; Population and Vital Statistics Report (various years), United Nations (UN), uri: https://unstats.un.org, publisher: UN Statistics Division
GDP
$345 million
current US$
observation
Definition, value & source
Gross domestic product is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period. It can be measured in three different ways: using either the expenditure approach, the income approach, or the production approach. This indicator is expressed in current prices, meaning no adjustment has been made to account for price changes over time. This indicator is expressed in United States dollars.
Received value: 345000000 current US$. The main card rounds for readability.
- Collected
- Oct 7, 2026
- Dataset update reported by API
- Jul 13, 2026; separate from the observation year
World Bank indicator ↗ · API record ↗
World Bank, World Development Indicators. CC BY 4.0. Underlying sources: Country official statistics, National Statistical Organizations and/or Central Banks; National Accounts data files, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); Staff estimates, World Bank (WB)
GDP per capita
$19,532
current US$ per person
observation
Definition, value & source
Gross domestic product is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period. It can be measured in three different ways: using either the expenditure approach, the income approach, or the production approach. The core indicator has been divided by the general population to achieve a per capita estimate.This indicator is expressed in current prices, meaning no adjustment has been made to account for price changes over time. This indicator is expressed in United States dollars.
Received value: 19532.3557719527 current US$ per person. The main card rounds for readability.
- Collected
- Oct 7, 2026
- Dataset update reported by API
- Jul 13, 2026; separate from the observation year
World Bank indicator ↗ · API record ↗
World Bank, World Development Indicators. CC BY 4.0. Underlying sources: Country official statistics, National Statistical Organizations and/or Central Banks; National Accounts data files, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); Staff estimates, World Bank (WB)
GDP and GDP per capita use current US dollars, without an inflation or purchasing-power-parity adjustment. Source years can differ. Missing data is not zero; earlier archive figures below are retained as a separate historical reference.
THE REFERENCE FILE
Palau at a glance
These are historical reference facts from the 2025 World Factbook archive. Each estimate keeps its own period; an archive edition does not make every figure a measurement from that year.
Population
total: 21,947 (2025 est.) male: 11,257 female: 10,690
Real GDP (purchasing power parity)
$280.025 million (2023 est.) $274.866 million (2022 est.) $278.538 million (2021 est.) note: data in 2021 dollars
GDP (official exchange rate)
$281.849 million (2023 est.) note: data in current dollars at official exchange rate
Real GDP growth rate
1.9% (2023 est.) -1.3% (2022 est.) -13.8% (2021 est.) note: annual GDP % growth based on constant local currency
Real GDP per capita
$15,800 (2023 est.) $15,500 (2022 est.) $15,700 (2021 est.) note: data in 2021 dollars
Inflation rate (consumer prices)
2.2% (2024 est.) 12.8% (2023 est.) 12.4% (2022 est.) note: annual % change based on consumer prices
Public debt
85.2% of GDP (2019 est.) note: central government debt as a % of GDP
Budget
revenues: $127.757 million (2020 est.) expenditures: $152.398 million (2020 est.) note: central government revenues and expenses (excluding grants/extrabudgetary units/social security funds) converted to US dollars at average official exchange rate for year indicated
Current account balance
-$135.428 million (2022 est.) -$115.739 million (2021 est.) -$115.61 million (2020 est.) note: balance of payments - net trade and primary/secondary income in current dollars
Exports
$24.48 million (2022 est.) $10.566 million (2021 est.) $52.897 million (2020 est.) note: balance of payments - exports of goods and services in current dollars
Imports
$216.681 million (2022 est.) $169.938 million (2021 est.) $207.224 million (2020 est.) note: balance of payments - imports of goods and services in current dollars
Electricity access
electrification - total population: 100% (2022 est.) electrification - urban areas: 99.9% electrification - rural areas: 100%
Internet users
percent of population: 27% (2004 est.)
THE HISTORICAL REFERENCE LIBRARY
Explore the country in detail
Browse the economy, population, resources and infrastructure. These archived descriptions keep their original wording and dates; they have not been updated to describe current conditions.
26 of 26 sections
Location
Oceania, group of islands in the North Pacific Ocean, southeast of the Philippines
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Capital
name: Ngerulmud geographic coordinates: 7 30 N, 134 37 E time difference: UTC+9 (14 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time) etymology: the name comes from a Palauan term meaning "place of fermented angelfish;" the site of the capital was the traditional location for women to gather and offer fermented angelfish to the gods
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Economic overview
high-income Pacific island economy; environmentally fragile; subsistence agriculture and fishing industries; US aid reliance; rebounding post-pandemic tourism industry and services sector; very high living standard and low unemployment
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Natural resources
forests, minerals (especially gold), marine products, deep-seabed minerals
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Agricultural products
coconuts, cassava (manioc, tapioca), sweet potatoes; fish, pigs, chickens, eggs, bananas, papaya, breadfruit, calamansi, soursop, Polynesian chestnuts, Polynesian almonds, mangoes, taro, guava, beans, cucumbers, squash/pumpkins (various), eggplant, green onions, kangkong (watercress), cabbages (various), radishes, betel nuts, melons, peppers, noni, okra
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Industries
tourism, fishing, subsistence agriculture
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Exports - partners
India 41%, Turkey 26%, Taiwan 10%, USA 9%, Japan 5% (2023) note: top five export partners based on percentage share of exports
2023 source periods; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Exports - commodities
ships, refined petroleum (2023) note: top export commodities based on value in dollars over $500,000
2023 source periods; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Imports - partners
Italy 32%, China 25%, USA 11%, Turkey 10%, Japan 6% (2023) note: top five import partners based on percentage share of imports
2023 source periods; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Imports - commodities
ships, refined petroleum, additive manufacturing machines, cars, plastic products (2023) note: top five import commodities based on value in dollars
2023 source periods; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Climate
tropical; hot and humid; wet season May to November
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Terrain
varying topography from the high, mountainous main island of Babelthuap to low, coral islands usually fringed by large barrier reefs
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Land use
agricultural land: 9.3% (2023 est.) arable land: 0.7% (2023 est.) permanent crops: 4.3% (2023 est.) permanent pasture: 4.3% (2023 est.) forest: 90.6% (2023 est.) other: 0% (2023 est.)
2023 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Natural hazards
typhoons (June to December)
archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Languages
Palauan (official on most islands) 65.2%, other Micronesian 1.9%, English (official) 19.1%, Filipino 9.9%, Chinese 1.2%, other 2.8% (2015 est.) note: Sonsoralese is official in Sonsoral; Tobian is official in Tobi; Angaur and Japanese are official in Angaur
2015 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Religions
Roman Catholic 46.9%, Protestant 30.9% (Evangelical 24.6%, Seventh Day Adventist 5%, other Protestant 1.4%), Modekngei 5.1% (indigenous to Palau), Muslim 4.9%, other 12.3% (2020 est.)
2020 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Age structure
0-14 years: 17.5% (male 1,976/female 1,849) 15-64 years: 71.3% (male 8,647/female 6,935) 65 years and over: 11.2% (2024 est.) (male 612/female 1,845)
2024 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Urbanization
urban population: 82.4% of total population (2023) rate of urbanization: 1.59% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
2023, 2020 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Life expectancy at birth
total population: 75.2 years (2024 est.) male: 72 years female: 78.5 years
2024 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Literacy
total population: 100% (2020 est.) male: 100% (2020 est.) female: 100% (2020 est.)
2020 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Telephones - mobile cellular
total subscriptions: 24,000 (2023 est.) subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 135 (2023 est.)
2023 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Broadband - fixed subscriptions
total: 1,000 (2023 est.) subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 7 (2023 est.)
2023 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Airports
3 (2025)
2025 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Ports
total ports: 1 (2024) large: 0 medium: 0 small: 0 very small: 1 ports with oil terminals: 1 key ports: Malakal Harbor
2024 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
GDP - composition, by sector of origin
agriculture: 3% (2023 est.) industry: 9.9% (2023 est.) services: 76.7% (2023 est.) note: figures may not total 100% due to non-allocated consumption not captured in sector-reported data
2023 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
Remittances
0.7% of GDP (2023 est.) 0.8% of GDP (2022 est.) 0.8% of GDP (2021 est.) note: personal transfers and compensation between resident and non-resident individuals/households/entities
2023, 2022, 2021 dates in source text; archive edition 2025 · Archive source ↗
CURRENCY OBSERVATIONS
Money & exchange rates
The latest verified daily references are separate from the historical country profile. Values are currency units per US$1.
US Dollar
USD per US$1
Daily references are not live execution prices. A check time does not change a source observation date.
CAPITAL MARKETS
Stock exchanges
No venue from our curated stock exchange directory is listed for this entity.
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Official data & country reports
Research directories have their own coverage. A link is not a claim that every entity has an IMF report or a separate national statistical office.
SOURCES & DATES
Where the facts come from.
Editorial presentation by American Business Capital Group Inc. The organizations and archive links below are the underlying sources.
- Country reference
- CIA World Factbook · 2025 archive
- Archive retrieved
- Oct 6, 2026 · retrieval date, not an observation period
- Currency associations
- SIX / ISO 4217 currency registry ↗
- Rate observations
- Frankfurter / official reference providers ↗ · each observation is dated separately
- State classification
- UN member states ↗ · UN observer states ↗
- UN membership is shown separately from territory and currency coverage; inclusion is not a position on sovereignty or boundaries.
- CIA World Factbook text preserved by World Factbook Archive. Archive edition 2025; individual estimates retain their own dates. These are historical reference facts, not current observations.
About the editions. The CIA announced the end of its online World Factbook on February 4, 2026. Our historical profiles retain the archive editions shown above.
Skyhorse lists The CIA World Factbook 2026–2027, published April 7, 2026 (ISBN 9781510786042). That book’s full text has not been incorporated here; its edition title does not redate the imported archive. Archive distribution license.
Geography is a simplified reference. Displayed boundaries and entity inclusion do not express a position on sovereignty or disputed borders.